9 Morphological Image Processing
• The word Morphology commonly denotes a branch
of biology that deals with the form and structure of
animals and plants
• We use mathematical morphological as a tool for
extracting image components that are useful in the
representation and description of region shape,
such as boundaries extraction, skeletons, convex
hull, morphological filtering, thinning, pruning
• Binary images whose components are elements of Z2
while in gray scale image elements belongs to Z3
Preliminaries
• Reflections
The reflection of a set B, denoted Bµ, is defined as
Bµ {w | w b, for b B}
• Translations
The translation of a set B by point z (z1, z2 ), denoted (B)Z , is
defined as
(B)Z {c | c b z, for b B}
Preliminaries
Operators by examples:
Preliminaries
Examples of Reflection and Translation
Structuring Elements
• Small sets or sub-images used to probe an image
under study for properties of interest is called SE
origin
Structuring Elements
• The background border is made large enough accommodate the to
entire structuring element when its origin is on the border of the
original set (Padding)
• SE is of size 3×3 with the origin in the center, so as a one-element
border that encompasses the entire set is sufficient
Erosion
• With A and B as sets in Z2 , the erosion of A by B is
defined as
A B z | (B) Z A
• Erosion of A by B is the set of all points z such that B,
translated by z, is contained in A.
A B z | (B) Z Ac
• B has to be contained in A is equivalent to B not sharing
any common elements with the background
Erosion and Dilation
Erosion
Erosion
• Erosion shrinks or thins objects in a binary
image
• Erosion as a morphological filtering operation
in which image details smaller than the
structuring elements are filtered from the
image
• Erosion performed the function of a “line
filter”
Dilation
• With A and B as sets in Z2, the dilation of A by B is
defined as A B= z | B µ A
z
• Reflecting B about its origin, and shifting this reflection
by z
• The dilation of A by B then is the set of all
displacements, z, such that Bµand A overlap by at least
one element
B A A
A B z | µ
z
Erosion and Dilation
Dilation
• Unlike erosion, dilation “grows” or “thickens”
objects in a binary image
• The specific manner and extent of this thickening is
controlled by the shape of the structuring element
used
Erosion and Dilation
Duality
• Erosion and dilation are duals of each other
with respect to set complementation and
reflection
A B Ac Bµ
c
A Bc
Ac
Bµ
Opening and Closing
• Opening of set A by SE B is defined
Aͦ B A B B
• Thus, opening A by B is the erosion of A by B,
followed by a dilation of the result by B
• Closing of set A by SE B is defined
A·B A B B
• Closing of set A by B is simply the dilation of A
by B, followed by the erosion of the result by B
Opening and Closing
• Opening smoothens the contour of an object, breaks
narrow isthmuses, and eliminates thin protrusions
• Closing also tends to smooth sections of contours
but, as opposed to opening, it generally fuses
narrow breaks and long thin gulfs, eliminates small
holes, and fills gaps in the contour
Examples: Opening
AgB A B B
Examples: Closing
AgB A B B
Duality
• Opening and closing are duals of each other with
respect to set complementation and reflections
A·B c
( A ͦ Bµ)
c
A ͦ B c
(A ·Bµ)
c
Opening and Closing
• Opening Properties:
– A ͦ B is a subset of A
– If C is a subset of D, then C ͦ B is a subset of D ͦ B
– (A ͦ B) ͦ B = A ͦ B
• Closing properties:
– A is a subset of A·B
– If C is a subset of D, then C·B is a subset of D·B
– (A·B)·B = A·B
Opening and Closing
